Wendy Williams Hunter (born July 18, 1964), better known by her maiden name Wendy Williams, is an American media personality, actress and author. She hosts a syndicated television talk show, The Wendy Williams Show.[1]

Prior to television, Williams was a "shock jockette" on several radio shows.[2] Williams has gained notoriety for her on-air spats with celebrities.[2][3] She was the subject of the 2006 VH1 reality TV series called The Wendy Williams Experience which broadcast events surrounding her radio show.

She has written an autobiography and several other books, and has created two product lines: an apparel line with QVC called Adorn by Wendy Williams and a wig line named Wendy Williams Hair World.

Personal life[edit]

In her biography, Wendy's Got the Heat, she uses the pseudonym Robert Morris III to refer to her first husband and describes him as a salesperson.[6] Williams divorced her first husband.[7]

She is currently married to Kevin Hunter, who is also her manager. Their son was born in 1999.[4]

Radio career[edit]

Williams began her career working for WVIS in the Virgin Islands.[3] In 1989, Williams began at urban contemporary WRKS (now WEPN-FM) in New York City as a substitute disc jockey. WRKS hired her full-time for its morning show. A year later, Williams moved to an afternoon drive-time shift, eventually winning the Billboard Award for "Best On-Air Radio Personality" in 1993.[citation needed] In December 1994, Emmis Broadcasting purchased WRKS and switched Williams to the company's other New York property, hip-hop formatted WQHT ("Hot 97"), as WRKS was reformatted into an urban adult contemporary outlet. She was fired from Hot 97 in 1998.[2]

Williams was hired by a Philadelphia urban station, WUSL ("Power 99FM"). Her husband, Kevin Hunter, became her agent.[2] She was very open about her personal life on air, discussing her miscarriages, breast enhancement surgery,[2] and former drug addiction,[3] and helped the station move from 14th place in the ratings to 2nd.[2]

In 2001, Williams returned to the New York airwaves when WBLS hired her full-time for a syndicated 2–6 p.m. time slot. Williams' friend, MC Spice of Boston, offered his voiceover services to the show, often adding short rap verses tailored specifically for Williams' show. The New York Times stated that her "show works best when its elements – confessional paired with snarkiness – are conflated," and cited a 2003 interview with Whitney Houston as an example.[8] During the highly publicized interview[9] that "went haywire" and included "a lot of bleeped language", Williams "asked [Houston], insistently, about her drug and spending habits".[10]

On April 11, 2013, Williams announced on The Wendy Williams Show she was becoming an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church World Headquarters[19] She donated items from her talk show, including a wig, a script, and "bedazzled pink microphone" to the Smithsonian Institution's daytime television collection in 2014. [20]

Williams hosted a game show for GSN called Love Triangle, which premiered on April 11, 2011. Williams and husband Kevin Hunter served as executive producers.[22]

In February 2013, it was announced that Williams and her husband and manager, Kevin, were launching a reality television production company, Wendy Williams Productions.[23] that will produce unscripted content, including reality television and game shows.[24]

On March 19, 2013, Williams appeared as a guest judge on the sixth episode of The Face.[25]

On March 18, 2014, Williams will also be an executive producer on the show Celebrities Undercover.[25]

In 2012, it was announced Williams would enter into a "production alliance" with producers Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones to create movies and televisions show aimed at multicultural audiences.[27][28] These projects will appear under the heading "Wendy Williams presents"[28] and their first project will be VH1 adaptation of a Star Jones novel.[27]

Theater[edit]

In 2013, Williams announced she was going to play the role of Matron "Mama" Morton on the Broadway musical Chicago. [29][30] Williams officially began her tenure on July 2 [31] and finished her 7-week run on August 11, 2013. Her preparations for the musical were documented in the TV Guide docuseries, "Wendy Williams: How You Doin', Broadway?!" [32] which was produced by her own production company, Wendy Williams Productions. [33]

Internet[edit]

In 2009, BlogTV announced that Williams would be a partner with the virtual web show hosting website that was scheduled to launch in mid-2010 which would feature live streaming web-cam sessions with celebrity guests.[39]

Adorn by Wendy Williams[edit]

Williams sells a line of jewelry products on the home shopping network, QVC, called "Adorn by Wendy Williams".[40]

Williams and her husband, Kevin Hunter, commissioned the Chinese-based manufacturing firm, Max Harvest International Holdings, to make 12,140 pairs of shoes bearing the logo of her brand, Adorn.[41] The owners of Max Harvest International Holdings were said to have gone into hiding after the owner of the shoe factory who made the shoes kidnapped one of their managers and held the man prisoner for two weeks before releasing him, and Williams' failure to pay was cited the reason, reported by the New York Daily News.[42] The manager and his wife retained lawyer Staci Riordan of Los Angeles.[43] Their representative says they've been in negotiations for several months in order to reach a settlement.[41] Williams declined to comment on the matter.[43]

Endorsements[edit]

Williams has been a spokesperson for Georges Veselle champagne.[citation needed]

She posed for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur", ad campaign in 2012.[44]